History Main / HatOfPower

* SuperMario64's hats all fall under this, they're all power ups which give Mario different abilities like being made of metal, going through enemies and obstacles while invisible and flight, and you can mix and match them all. Heck, Mario's normal hat too, he takes double damage without it somehow.

* The Hat from Superman vs. The Elite can summon demons from his magic fedora.

[[folder:Music]]
* In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5VonaNon5A My Hat]] by Anthony and Those Other Guys, his hat makes him look cooler, makes him look cooler, cooler than he actually is... and it gets him [[spoiler:laid.]]

* The crown of Nagash from ''{{Warhammer}}'' is a potent artifact, turning the wearer into a necromancer and granting him increased intelligence and magic power at the cost of "hearing voices" --as the crown has personality of its own. It's implied that the crown used to be ordinary, and gained its powers from spending several centuries on the head of Nagash, the great necromancer.

* A famous ''RockyAndBullwinkle'' serial featured the Kerwood Derby[[hottip:*:a pun on the name of then-popular announcer Durwood Kirby]], a hat that vastly amplified the wearer's intelligence. It's last known wearer was AlbertEinstein.

->'''BugsBunny''': Your spear and magic helmet?

->'''Bugs''': Magic helmet?
->'''Elmer''': Magic helmet!

* ''{{Discworld}}: Sourcery'': The Archchancellor's Hat has the memories of all the Archchancellors to have worn it and can confer that power/expertise on any wearer it deems suitable.

* {{Super Mario 64}}'s hats all fall under this, they're all power ups which give Mario different abilities like being made of metal, going through enemies and obstacles while invisible and flight, and you can mix and match them all. Heck, Mario's normal hat too, he takes double damage without it somehow.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* In "WhatsOperaDoc", Siegfried Fudd had a "spear and magic helmet", the latter of which apparently gave him power to summon lightning and storms.

* {{SuperMario64}}'s hats all fall under this, they're all power ups which give Mario different abilities like being made of metal, going through enemies and obstacles while invisible and flight, and you can mix and match them all. Heck, Mario's normal hat too, he takes double damage without it somehow.

Some hats serve more of a purpose than just [[NiceHat looking nice]]. Some even go beyond the mundane purpose of protecting the wearer's head. These Hats of Power grant some [[StockSuperpowers superpower]] or other special ability to whatever lucky chump happens to put them on.

Sometimes, this serves as a more vulnerable version of ClothesMakeTheSuperman (or at least MySuitIsAlsoSuper), since a super fedora is more likely to get blown off by a gust of wind than a super suit is.

HatOfFlight is a subtrope. Compare WeaponizedHeadgear and GogglesDoSomethingUnusual.

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Comicbooks]]
* The MarvelUniverse has the Serpent Crown, an artifact linked to an EldritchAbomination that gives wearers various powers. It's an {{Expy}} of the Conan artifact (see Literature, below).

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* In ''HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'', an unnamed golden crown allows its wearer to command the unstoppable Golden Army.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}}'', the ''Tarnkappe'' grants the wearer invisibility. Fun thing: It was originally not a hat (cap), but an [[InvisibilityCloak cloak]] (cape). Due to changes of language, with ''kappe'' shifting its meaning from 'cloak' to 'hat', it became interpreted as a hat.

* In ''DerRingDesNibelungen'', the Tarnhelm grants the wearer invisibility, shape-shifting, and teleportation.
* The ConanTheBarbarian novel ''Conan the Buccaneer'' features the Cobra Crown, which gives magic powers to the wearer.

[[folder:Folklore & Mythology]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''DungeonsAndDragons''/''{{Pathfinder}}'' has many of these:
** Caps
*** Healing Cap of Veluna: Priest/Cleric healing spells heal double normal number of HitPoints.
*** Nightcap of Vision: Can see in the dark.
*** Pileus: Gives wearer several powers allowing freeing of others from bondage.
** Crowns:
*** Circlet of Persuasion -- raises the wearer's charisma
*** Crown of Blindness -- causes the wearer to go blind

*** Hat of Difference: Can become another character class and gain ExperiencePoints
*** Hat of Disguise -- ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
*** Hat of Hatreds -- causes the wearer to take on the appearance of someone those around them hate. In addition, the wearer appears to be in a vulnerable condition.

*** Headband of Alluring Charisma -- raises the wearer's charisma
*** Headband of Inspired Wisdom -- raises the wearer's perception and common sense
*** Headband of Vast Intelligence -- raises the wearer's intelligence (although not as much as the name might suggest)
*** Headband of Mental Prowess -- functions in the same way as any two of the above three items
*** Headband of Mental Superiority -- raises all three mental stats (Charisma, Wisdom, Intelligence)

*** Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic -- another ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
*** Helm of Telepathy -- and yet another ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
*** Helm of Teleportation -- ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin (the writers went for descriptive rather than creative names most of the time)
*** Helm of Underwater Action -- allows the wearer to see clearly and breathe underwater
*** Helm of Brilliance: Grants many light and fire based spell abilities
*** Helm of Darkness: Can cast darkness, immune to many attack forms
*** Harrowhelm: Grants psionic abilities
*** Skull of Death: Gives several death-based abilities
* The crown of Nagash from ''{{Warhammer}}'' is a potent artifact, turning the wearer into a necromancer and granting him increased intelligence and magic power at the cost of "hearing voices" --as the crown has personality of its own. It's implied that the crown used to be ordinary, and gained its powers from spending several centuries on the head of Nagash, the great necromancer.

[[folder:Toys]]
* In {{LEGO}}'s Time Cruisers line, hats are used to power the good guys' TimeMachine.

[[folder:Videogames]]
* In the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series, hats served as MutuallyExclusivePowerups. In the first game, the jet hat allows Wario to fly, the dragon hat allows Wario to breathe fire, and the bull hat allows Wario to GroundPound while also strengthening his normal charge attack.
* In ''VideoGame/CaveStory'', the Demon Crown is an ArtifactOfDoom which grants its wearer magic powers, as well as complete control over a QuirkyMinibossSquad and the frenzied Mimigas. [[GreatOffscreenWar At least one war]] was fought over control of this Crown.
* In ''KidChameleon'', various helmet/mask powerups enable the protagonist to transform into different forms with different powers.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* In "WhatsOperaDoc", Siegfried Fudd had a "spear and magic helmet", the latter of which apparently gave him power to summon lightning and storms.
* A famous ''RockyAndBullwinkle'' serial featured the Kerwood Derby[[hottip:*:a pun on the name of then-popular announcer Durwood Kirby]], a hat that vastly amplified the wearer's intelligence. It's last known wearer was AlbertEinstein.
* ''MightyMax'' had a kid whose baseball cap made him the Capbearer, and apparently the guardian of reality or something.

* An episode of {{Doug}} had the eponymous character find a hat that gave him amazing luck, which he became so attached too he would refuse to take it off even when getting a haircut. By the end of the episode it flies off to places unknown and everything returns to the {{Status Quo}}.

----

*** Headband of Mental Superiority -- raises all three mental stats (Charisma, Wisdom, Intelligence

* On ''TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', the family fights over a tinfoil hat that gives the wearer incredibly good luck. Anais takes it to the dump to destroy it, leading to a ''LordOfTheRings'' parody with Gumball as Gollum.

Compare WeaponizedHeadgear and GogglesDoSomethingUnusual.

* And let's not forget the Mad Hatter from the DCU. As the name implies, he is a psychotic supervillain with a range of lethal headware. His "normal" hat (if you can call it that) just lets him [[MindControl control people's minds]]; hats for special occasions include exploding hats, gas-emitting hats, hats that let you fly, and hats with hilarious pop-out guns.

* In the ''{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}}'', the ''Tarnkappe'' grants the wearer invisibility. Fun thing: The ''Tarnkappe'' was originally not a hat (cap), but an [[InvisibilityCloak cloak]](cape). Due to changes of language, with ''kappe'' shifting its meaning from 'cloak' to 'hat', it became interpreted as a hat.

* In the ''{{Nibelungenlied}}'', the Tarnkappe grants the wearer invisibility.

* In ''CaveStory'', the Demon Crown is an ArtifactOfDoom which grants its wearer magic powers, as well as complete control over a QuirkyMinibossSquad and the frenzied Mimigas. [[GreatOffscreenWar At least one war]] was fought over control of this Crown.

* In ''LastScenario'', Helio wears a speed-increasing hair ribbon, and Flynn has a beret protecting against some detrimental effects. Also, there are items like the Arch-Angel's Halo, which immunizes against all negative status effects and gives huge defence boosts, the Spring Hat, massively increasing HP, and the Crystalline Crown (automatically P-Shielding).

* ''{{Clonk}}'': In the ''DefenseOfTheAncients''-like scenario "Keepers", the Hunting Hat boosts your agility.